Fatemeh Sepehri

https://kayhanlife.com-fatemeh-sepehri

Fatemeh Sepehri — the civil rights activist detained in Mashhad on Sunday, August 1, during a peaceful demonstration in support of the people of Khuzestan and against the security situation in Iran — was released six days after her arrest.

Security forces in Mashhad have arrested several civil rights activists, including Fatemeh Sepehri, who had staged a peaceful demonstration in Park Melat to support protesters in the southwestern province of Khuzestan and to protest the heightened security climate in the country.

The demonstrators were also demanding the release of political prisoners.

A telephone conversation with her family a day later, Fatemeh Sepehri reportedly said that the security forces had beaten her and other protesters and used tasers during their arrests.

A close relative of Ms. Sepehri, who spoke to Kayhan Life, said that she had undergone surgery recently and needed prescription painkillers, adding that the arrest could be detrimental to her health.

The public first heard of Fatemeh Sepehri when she and 13 other women signed a letter on June 12, 2019, urging Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to resign. Previously, 14 men, including Sepehri's brother, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, had written a similar letter, calling for Mr. Khamenei's resignation.

After signing the letter, Fatemeh Sepehri received a great deal of attention because her late husband had lost his life during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88); as a result, she came to be known as a martyr's wife.

Iranian authorities did not expect the wife of a martyr with strong religious beliefs to urge Khamenei to resign and advocate a secular democratic governing system to replace the Islamic Republic regime.

In her first interview with the media, shortly after signing the letter, Sepehri said: "People, make your voice heard, and do not wait for a miracle. Do not wait for someone to rescue you. Everyone, inside and abroad, must unite and reject the Islamic Republic and seek a democratic secular governing system. Enough is enough; the nation must rise. Four decades of the Islamic Republic is enough. Do not leave us alone."

Those who know Fatemeh Sepehri well say that she has criticized the Islamic Republic for years: after the 2009 presidential elections, she concluded that the regime was not reformable. It was then that she stepped up her political activities.